Saturday, the Jeffs took on the sixth-place Bantams, who tied the Jeffs at Orr Rink in the first game of the season. This time Amherst tasted victory, dominating Trinity in a 4-0 win.
Sophomores Simon and goaltender Lindsay Grabowski led the Jeffs' charge. Simon recorded her second career hat trick with her eighth, ninth and 10th goals of the season, and Grabowski notched her second shutout of the season and fourth of her career with 21 saves.
Forward Leah Kaplan '06 started the scoring in the first with the game winner, her eighth goal of the season at 5:17 into the first period. For the rest of the game, it was Rachel Simon's show, as the sophomore sniper increased her team-leading total to 27 points with a goal in the first period and two more in the second.
On Friday, Amherst jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead against last-place Wesleyan University, only halfway through the contest. Simon and Kaplan assisted on Meghan Dickoff '07's fourth goal of the season with five minutes left in the first to start the festivities. Alena Harrison '07 then made it 2-0 on a feed from Sisti and Kirsten Forsberg '07 before Sisti, assisted by Simon, converted a power play to make it 3-0.
After a Wesleyan goal, Simon scored, unassisted, which proved to be more than enough to secure the Jeffs' 4-2 victory. Grabowski was solid in net once again, stopping 25 shots.
The Jeffs' penultimate home game of the season came on Wednesday night against Holy Cross. The Jeffs ceded the Crusaders a 1-0 lead as Parnell Ormiston's wrist shot from the point beat Grabowski four minutes into the game.
Sisti single-handedly brought the Jeffs back into the game with an unassisted goal at 11:05. Only 72 seconds later, after a Holy Cross penalty, Tes Siarnacki '07 fed Sisti off a faceoff to make it 2-1. With the men's team ready with hats in hand, Sisti added her hat trick goal 15:23 into the second period. Elizabeth Ditmore '08 scored a rebound goal to finish out the second period scoring and give Amherst a commanding lead, 4-1.
However, the Jeffs let their opponent back into the game in the third period. Siarnacki's eighth goal of the season, featuring some nifty stick handling, made the score 5-2 with five minutes left in the game. Holy Cross then made a desperate dash to the finish. With 44 seconds to go, the Crusaders cut the lead to 5-4. After a timeout, Holy Cross pulled its goalie for one final rush, but Grabowski steadied herself and secured the Jeffs the one-goal victory.
"It felt really good to win both games this weekend," said Kaplan. "We knew what we had to do, we knew what was at stake, and we just did it. We are all really psyched for the playoffs."
This week, the young Jeffs showcased their great one-two scoring punch, Simon and Sisti, who combined for eight goals and five assists in only three games. Grabowski, after a rough start to the season, has now evened her record at 5-5-4.
With the three straight wins, the Jeffs now stand at 8-9-5 heading into the final week of non-conference play before the NESCAC playoffs begin in two weeks.